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Many drugs can alter a person’s thinking and judgment, and can lead to health risks, including addiction, drugged driving, infectious disease, and adverse effects on pregnancy. Information on commonly used drugs with the potential for misuse or addiction can be found here.
Drug addiction is a chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences. Brain changes that occur over time with drug use challenge an addicted person’s self-control and interfere with their ability to resist intense urges to take drugs.
Opioids are a class of drugs that include synthetic opioids such as fentanyl; pain relievers available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone (OxyContin®), hydrocodone (Vicodin®), codeine, morphine; the illegal drug heroin; and many others. Use of opioids, either by themselves or in combination with other drugs, is a major driver of the ...
According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), in 2021, 13.5 million people aged 16 or older drove under the influence of alcohol in the past year and 11.7 million drove under the influence of selected illicit drugs, including marijuana (2021 DT 8.33A). *7. The survey also showed that men are more likely than women to ...
Parents or older family members who use drugs or misuse alcohol, or who break the law, can increase children's risk of future drug problems. 29; Peer and School. Friends and other peers can have an increasingly strong influence during the teen years. Teens who use drugs can sway even those without risk factors to try drugs for the first time.
driving, and infectious disease. Most drugs could potentially harm an unborn baby; pregnancy-related issues are listed in the chart below for drugs where there is enough scientific evidence to connect the drug use to specific negative effects. For information about treatment options for drug addiction, see NIDA’s Treatment pages.
Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, can activate neurons because their chemical structure mimics that of a natural neurotransmitter in the body. This allows the drugs to attach onto and activate the neurons. Although these drugs mimic the brain’s own chemicals, they don’t activate neurons in the same way as a natural neurotransmitter ...
People use drugs for many reasons: they want to feel good, stop feeling bad, or perform better in school or at work, or they are curious because others are doing it and they want to fit in. The last reason is very common among teens. Drugs excite the parts of the brain that make you feel good. But after you take a drug for a while, the feel ...
Illegal Drugs Marijuana (Cannabis) More research needs to be done on how marijuana use during pregnancy could impact the health and development of infants, given changing policies about access to marijuana, significant increases in the number of pregnant women seeking substance use disorder treatment for marijuana use, and confounding effects of polysubstance use. 96 A 2017 opinion posted by ...
Emerging drugs have unpredictable health effects. They may be as powerful or more powerful than existing drugs, and may be fatal. Because drug markets change quickly, NIDA supports the National Drug Early Warning System (NDEWS), which tracks emerging substances. NIDA also advances the science on emerging drugs by supporting research on their ...